So… My buddy EE over at Backboards and Band-Aids thinks that you should be an EMT for 2 years before you go to Medic School(mind you, she is slow and her post isn’t up yet…). This is a rather common belief in EMS. Lots of people hate rookie medics and even more so hate rookie medics with no field experience.
Enter me. I have no field experience(field internship excluded), was never a EMT-B in the field, and went about 4 months between Basic class and the start of my Medic class. During that four months, I worked in a crappy warehouse job. Yup. Not EMS.
But my experience in school exposed me to a variety of Prospective Medics. We had about 5 students with some field experience. Emt-B, Emt-I/85, etc. Some had a couple years, some had 6 months of field experience. All but 2 of them ranked below me in the class. 2 of them were dead last in the class. Does that mean anything? Not necessarily. While I think a good foundation of info is important in EMS, you learn a lot of things–and are tested on a lot of things–that you will never, ever need to know. So my ability to regurgitate pointless pieces of information on a test doesn’t mean I’m a good medic. Being first in class or being last in class doesn’t discern your abilities either…
However, I think the one thing that was different from me and my “seasoned” classmates was their attitudes. I came into class knowing I knew jack shit. A few of them came into class knowing they knew everything. They knew they were perfect at skills. They knew their assessment was top-notch. Sure, my assessment was weak. I think my lack of field experience was the only reason it was weak. But… I think my clean slate allowed me to pick up solid skills, while discerning good practices from bad practices.
My first solo assessment in the field I flopped around like a fish out of water… Finding a groove and flow is tricky, and that set me back from my “seasoned” classmates. What didn’t set me back from them was a false impression that I didn’t have anything to learn. I haven’t met a medic student who was a practicing EMT who didn’t have this problem. All of my classmates who were practicing EMTs walked into class with their heads high and their chests puffed out. They had the typical “future paragod” look on their faces. To this day I still know that I know nothing…
So I think the real positive side to me not having been a practicing EMT was that I knew I had to try harder. I had to compensate for what I perceived as a weakness, and in reality may have proven a strength. I didn’t come into medic school with false impressions, bad habits, or a shit-tastic attitude. I walked in the way I walked out. Knowing that Medic school is only designed to create “Entry Level Competent Paramedics”. Not Paragods.
I think one of the Most important factors in deciding to go to Medic School is AGE. I was in the middle of the age bracket in my class. Not to say all 18-19 year olds aren’t ready to be Medics–But I KNOW without a doubt that I wasn’t ready at 18, 20, or 22. Obviously my friend EE is much wiser than her years on this planet. I look to her as a Role Model–despite her disgruntled, un-compassionate ways…
EE Knows her shit. She is also doing what she can to better herself, and her family. She isn’t like most of my younger classmates. So maybe it isn’t “AGE” so much as it is “life experience”. When you are truly and adult–not just legally–then I think you are ready to enter Medic School, regardless of experience… But if you can’t figure out a Basic Skill, and appreciate their uses(not everyone needs an IV, Tube, or obnoxious over use of medical terminology…) then you need to get your head out of your ass. I am willing to bet the people who have lead many to think unexperienced medics are bane on the existence of EMS have dealt with people who just shouldn’t be in EMS. I don’t think it was their lack of experience in the field that was the problem–it was their lack of experience at all that was the problem.
